MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The next time you use the 211 information app, there are now resources available in Spanish.

United Way of Dane County launched the Spanish version this week. The app gives 24/7 live local resources to help residents in Dane and six other counites in Southern Wisconsin.

“When you look 5% factor to this, there are over 4,000 people in the Madison area that are Spanish speaking that want to be able to access resources and we want to make sure we can serve them,” Ed Wall, the director of 211 for United Way of Dane County.

The Spanish version of the app was developed with the help of Centro Hispano and a grant from PHMDC.

“Central Hispano right here in Madison contacted us and said a lot of people who want to use the app but only speak Spanish. We took that as something that we wanted to get done. We wanted to create a Spanish version,” Wall said.

The app was originally launched in October 2021. The 211 Wisconsin app was developed to broaden awareness of and access to community resources.

It connects people to resources like food pantries, housing, education, crisis lines and legal help.

If people do not have their own devices, there are 60 kiosks throughout southern Wisconsin for people to use. They can be found in schools, homeless shelters, food pantries and libraries.

Click here for a full list of 211 kiosks.

MADISON (WKOW) — United Way of Dane County has launched a Spanish version of the 211 Wisconsin App.

The move aims to enhance access to health and human services for Spanish-speaking individuals and families in the Badger State.

The app, originally launched in October 2021, has over 5,200 users statewide. Its Spanish version was developed with Centro, a local nonprofit, ensuring cultural and language needs are met.

“At Centro, we believe that access to information is a cornerstone of equity,” Karen Menéndez Coller, executive director of Centro Dane County, said. “This is how we build a stronger, more connected community for all.”

Renee Moe, president and CEO of United Way of Dane County, emphasized the significance of the new app.

“Expanding access to essential services for Spanish-speaking residents brings us closer to the vision of a Dane County where everyone can thrive,” Moe said.

United Way of Dane County and Centro Hispano have partnered to create a Spanish-language version of its community resource app, 211 Wisconsin app.

The app was launched in October 2021 by United Way to increase awareness and access to community resources. It has grown tremendously in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, with now over 5,200 users across the state. 211 provides direct access to resources in various areas including bill assistance, housing, food, transportation, and more, for those in need.

As the realization of 211’s need grows, United Way now looks to expand its ability to serve communities through a partnership with Centro Hispano.

“This partnership with Centro shows the power of user experience design and collaboration to drive meaningful change,” said Renee Moe, president & CEO of United Way, in a press release. “After launching the 211 Wisconsin App, the most consistent feedback from nonprofit partners was the need for a Spanish version. Thanks to a grant from Public Health Madison & Dane County, that’s now a reality. Expanding access to essential services for Spanish-speaking residents brings us closer to the vision of a Dane County where everyone can thrive.”

MADISON (WKOW) — More people now have access to essential community resources.

The United Way of Dane County announced a new feature in its 211 app that will allow a Spanish option to find health and human services.

The app launched in October of 2021 to help broaden awareness and access to community resources in the Badger State. It has helped thousands of users find essential services in their communities.

Ed Wall is United Way’s Director of 211 and says it took nearly a year to put the project together.

He says the public demand to add the language to the app was what drove the expansion of services.

“We love the app, but we need a Spanish version of it, because some of people coming in here do not speak English, and they want to be able to utilize the resources within 211,” Wall said.

A few weeks ago, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay junior Jasmine Puls was at her AmeriCorps job at the Girl Scout Reaching Out program, preparing for a trip to a local elementary school, when she got an email marked “URGENT.”

“Out of nowhere, we just got an email that we were being shut down, and that they tried to appeal it but that it was non-appealable, and that there was nothing they could do,” Puls said. “We were literally given no warning.”

Seven staff members lost their jobs “within 10 minutes,” including Puls. They weren’t alone: Statewide, about 430 AmeriCorps workers found themselves out of work after the federal Department of Government Efficiency made cuts to their programs.

Reaching Out focused on connecting students in underserved communities — often due to financial or language barriers — with outdoor education and life skills, according to assistant program and inclusion director Brittany Pyatt. Many other AmeriCorps programs offered similar services, providing students in need with tutoring and engagement services.

Sudden termination of AmeriCorps funding in Wisconsin has left hundreds of young service workers jobless and disrupted vital services across schools, nonprofits, and community health programs. The cuts eliminated the jobs of 430 active AmeriCorps members in Wisconsin, including 69 in Dane County, and halted programming at more than 300 sites statewide.

The AmeriCorps members worked in schools, clinics, homeless shelters and other direct service agencies.

Serve Wisconsin, the state agency that oversees AmeriCorps programs in Wisconsin, learned at about 6:20 pm Friday that all funding for AmeriCorps programs was terminated effective immediately because the programs no longer “aligned with agency priorities.”

The AmeriCorps website lists the agency’s priorities as disaster services, economic opportunity, education, environmental stewardship, healthy futures, and supporting veterans and military families.

Serve Wisconsin executive director Jeanne Duffy said the cut will also affect about 680 service workers scheduled to work in summer programs.

Dear Editor: At 6:20 p.m. Friday, April 25, we received notice that federal grants for the 25 active AmeriCorps programs in our state board’s portfolio were being terminated immediately, as well as planning grants for five organizations to develop programs through the Volunteer Generation Fund.

Closing these programs would halt service at more than 300 sites across Wisconsin, including schools, medical clinics and nonprofit organizations, as well as harming the hundreds of AmeriCorps members currently serving.

If these grant terminations take effect, thousands of students will suddenly lose tutoring and support programming. Hundreds of people with substance abuse disorders will lose their recovery coaches and thousands of people will lose programming at health clinics and organizations throughout Wisconsin.

Services provided to homeless youth and individuals with disabilities will be greatly reduced and hundreds of nonprofits will lose support in serving their communities. Planned conservation projects and summer programming for children that families depend on will no longer take place.

In the Madison area, this will eliminate service through nine AmeriCorps programs, including United Way of Dane County’s Schools of Hope and Achievement Connections, Partners for After School Success, Easterseals Wisconsin, DPI Farm to School, and several more organizations.

Contact your members of Congress to let them know these grants need to be reinstated. To find their contact information, click here.

A coalition of 25 states, including Wisconsin, sued the Trump administration Tuesday to block the cancellation of AmeriCorps programs across the country.

The cancellation has upended plans at more than two dozen organizations in Wisconsin that have engaged AmeriCorps members in community service work, and stranded scores of participants in the midst of one-year stints in the program.

“I was completely blindsided,” Parker Kuehni told the Wisconsin Examiner on Tuesday. The University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate with a degree in global health was in his second year with AmeriCorps, working at a Madison free health clinic and preparing to start medical school in June when he learned Monday morning that the program was canceled.

Created by Congress in 1993 as the Corporation for National and Community Service, its official name, AmeriCorps has deployed community service workers across the country in the decades since. AmeriCorps members are usually recent college graduates who join the program for a year or two. They teach in schools, assist with disaster relief and take on a host of other roles.

Over 13,000 individuals and nearly 500 area businesses helped United Way of Dane County to raise $17.3 million during its 2024 Community Fundraising Campaign. On Tuesday, the nonprofit hosted a Community Celebration with more than 500 attendees at the Monona Terrace.

Through its Plan for Community Well-Being, United Way of Dane County is investing in local nonprofits working on family well-being, with a focus on supporting the areas of youth opportunity, financial security, and a healthy community. This year marks the organization’s first cycle funding local nonprofits that align with this plan.

The greater Madison community came together to raise $17.3 million during the 2024 United Way Community Fundraising Campaign, the United Way of Dane County announced on Wednesday.

The United Way of Dane County hosted a Community Celebration on Feb. 25 with more than 500 community members joining the non-profit organization at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.

“I’m always awe-struck by the incredible generosity of our community,” says Renee Moe, president & CEO of United Way of Dane County, in a statement. “I’m grateful to every community member who trusts us with their hard-earned dollars, knowing we will multiply them and be accountable stewards. We know times are uncertain and challenging, and there are so many options for where to invest your money. By giving to United Way, you’re amplifying your impact and advancing solutions. Thank you for being a part of the Power of Caring. Working for All.”